A day after being heckled by the SFI (students’ wing of CPI-M) activists in Delhi, the Chief Minister on Wednesday cancelled her scheduled meeting with Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram and left for Kolkata saying Delhi is not safe. "Today, I was supposed to have a meeting with the Finance Minister... but I am returning to Kolkata. I was unwell since last evening and had to be administered oxygen. I will come back, but Delhi is not a safe place. I am sorry," she said.

Hours after facing the ire of the Left activists near Yojna Bhavan in Delhi, Banerjee had also cancelled her Tuesday’s appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "I had an appointment with the PM, which I could not do it. I apologise for that. He also told me that Mamataji, what happened ... I also apologise to you...which should not (have) happen(ed) and I think that in Delhi ... this is the first time, it is happening."

West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra, who was also manhandled by the Left activists, was hospitalized at AIIMS and kept under observation on Tuesday evening.

Later, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to Banerjee after her office called up the PMO to cancel the meeting scheduled with him saying she was unwell and her blood pressure had dipped. The Prime Minister also enquired about her well-being, sources close to the Chief Minister said.

Banerjee and Mitra were the target of the wrath of CPI-M and its students' wing SFI's activists who were protesting the death of their comrade Sudipta Gupta in police custody in Kolkata last week.

She also dismissed the reports about violence against the Left parties in West Bengal even after her appeal for calm in the state and blamed the CPI(M) for it. "No violence. Whatever violence ... CPI(M) cadre is doing. Our cadres are totally peaceful. They are very emotional. They listen to me. Let me tell that 55,000 people have been killed by CPI(M)," she said.

It was a ‘murderous attack’ on Mamata: TMC

Some Trinamool Congress workers, led by party leader Mukul Roy, also staged a protest gathering at Jantar Mantar. Giving a new twist to the incident, Trinamool MP Sukhendu Shekar Roy claimed it was a "murderous attack" on Banerjee. "It was a murderous attempt on the life of Mamata and three other Cabinet ministers, especially Amit Mitra. It was a pre-planned attack on the eve of Panchayat Elections to create a situation so that the demand for central forces can be justified," Roy said.

At the same time, he sidestepped questions on the attack by Trinamool Congress activists on CPI(M) offices and workers across West Bengal. "That is a wild allegation against us. Nowhere in this country during the 34 year misrule of Left Front more than 60,000 innocent people were butchered. Don't compare this incident with that genocide," he said.

Condemning the attack, Roy claimed that the police had remained silent onlookers when CPI-M and SFI activists "roughed up Mitra and no arrests has been made yet." He claimed that the protests at Planning Commission on Tuesday was not a demonstration by students as "there were many hired goons above the age of 40."

In the incident, while the Chief Minister was shielded by policemen, it was left to Mitra's lot to face the anger of the activists who were protesting the death of SFI member Sudipta Gupta. The 65-year-old Finance Minister was pushed and jostled around as he tried to enter the Yojna Bhawan building.